Got Dots?

I'm sharing two cards today for Clean & Simple 2 that use dots.

First technique is stamp layering for Day 3 (optical illusions). I think I already do this pretty often so I decided to use Laura Bassen's second technique of masking a block for a little twist on my usual card. I loved how she stamped a basic background in soft stone first so I stamped a light background as well (stamp from Penny Black). Then I layered my favorite PTI colors and added a sentiment from the Half & Half set.

Second card uses the faux letterpress/ghost stamping technique demonstrated on Suzanne Dahlberg on Day 2. I am loving the look of the ghost technique. Though maybe I'm don't know what letterpress is exactly because none of the examples look like what I thought was letterpress.

For this card I used PTI Bits and Buttons mini set and a flower from one of the Flower Fusion sets.

I'm loving this class so far and hope to be back with more cards tomorrow! Thanks for taking a peek!

CASology #86

Cue card at CASology this week is ROOTS. Lots of ways to go with this I think.

My first thought for roots related to family and family history. So here is my card using images from Hero Arts and sentiment from the new PTI Building Blocks set.

I decided to continue the sentiment on the inside....

Thanks for taking a peek. Weather is warming up here in NJ this week so I'm definitely enjoying it! Hope you are having a great day too.

ColourQ #232

I've cultivated an enthusiasm for making Project Life style 3x4 cards ever since I made some for the first time during PTI's anniversary festivities last month. I wanted to see a Jillibean Soup stamp set that is perfect for Project Life type and scrapbook pages. My color inspiration comes from the ColourQ challenge this week.

Hoping to use this card in a pocket style scrapbook all about me project I am working on. Thanks for stopping by!

Clean & Simple 3 - Inlaid Die Cuts

I'm really excited about all the cool stuff going on in the Clean & Simple 3 - One Layer Cards classroom this week. There are so many inspiring videos and great techniques to try that I am determined to make at least one card during class for each technique. And I'm stating that right here hoping it will make me accountable.

First up is the inlaid die cut technique. Debby Hughes' video was really great, especially the part where she tells me to keep a container handy to catch all the little pieces that fall out with the nested die cuts. I heard it but really didn't think it was THAT important. Well, turns out that a container would have been SO helpful because I spent a good forty minutes looking for the little pieces to puzzle back together. Yikes! Didn't help that my craft space was already a mess and I think my design involved one too many inlaid pieces. I almost gave up when I couldn't find two tiny little pieces. But I was liking my card so much that I kept on looking until I found them.

My color inspiration is from PTI's March Color Play palette.

How are you enjoying Clean & Simple 3? Fun stuff right?

Thanks for popping by!

Dynamic Duos #93

Having a tough time creatively speaking lately...there's are so many projects on my plate that I am having a tough time focusing during the little craft time I have. I'm taking the Clean and Simple 3 class at onlinecardclasses.com as well as taking two scrapbooking classes at Big Picture Classes - Before Your Story and Scrapbooking Outside the Pocket. And of course, all my favorite weekly card challenges to keep up with. Yikes, right!?

I'm excited by all of them and am completely inspired by what's going on in those classrooms but yet I haven't been able to create anything. Part of it is that I don't have much free time lately because of family stuff. But maybe I'm also burnt out after a VERY busy February. Last month I created 47 scrapbook pages during the LOAD challenge and also created 28 cards.
Hmmm....maybe I'll just do what I can and not worry about not being able to keep up.

I did make one card a few days ago that I forgot to share. This one uses the pretty colors of soft pink and stone at Dynamic Duos.

I used Stitched Rectangles on both the card base and the pink patterned paper. I embossed the bloom (forgot what type it is!) from the Meadow Greens set in white and added a pale pink enamel dot to the center. The sentiment from Clearly Besotted is stamped on two banners which were dry embossed with dots to match the paper. I popped up one of the banners with foam adhesive for a little dimension.

Thanks so much for stopping by! And if you have any advice for creative overwhelm, please share! Hope you are having a great week!

CMCC#10

Challenge at ColourMe this week is a monochromatic scheme of Old Olive. For my card I used a piece of patterned paper from the My Mind's Eye Lush collection which seemed perfect for this challenge. I heat embossed the feather in a beige-y color (AC Butter maybe?) and finished the card with a decorative scallop. I had forgotten how hard it is to photograph cards that have a decorative or uneven edge.

Friday! Enjoy your weekend. Thanks for taking a peek!

Fusion Challenge #5

Haven't played along with the Fusion Challenge in a while but I was particularly drawn to this sketch and the colors in the inspiration photo. I instantly thought of using PTI Ocean Tides which I hardly ever use.

I am liking this combination of Aqua Mist and Ocean Tides. I added a bit of texture to the base with the linen cover plate as it seemed to boring otherwise.

Thanks for taking a peek!

ColourQ #231

Its funny how a card gets created. I often use blog challenges as a jumping off point and my inspiration. Sometimes I'm pretty clear on what I want to create, what stamps and dies I want to use. Sometimes I'll just stare at the inspiration photo or color scheme for a long while and decide its not doing anything for me. When this would happen, I used to force myself to create something in order to flex my creative muscles. But now, if I don't have a burst of inspiration from it within a day or two, I just give it up. I want the challenge but sometimes sitting for hours trying to make something work is just an exercise in frustration for me.

This ColourQ palette was a tad difficult for me. I'm not a huge fan of green in my crafting though if you saw my house you'd think it was one of my favorite colors which it is for all thing except in my craft room. LOL. But the palette was interesting enough for me to make it work. Honestly I don't think any of the palettes at ColourQ have ever completely 'stumped' me which is why its one of my favorite challenges to play along with. So here's what I came up with -

I've been playing around with the PTI Diagonals cover plate and thought it would be interesting to put some texture on it. So I used the picnic plaid(?) texture plate on the diagonals as well as on the leaves. I am liking the white on white. And the Ruby Rose/Reprise blooms are my favorite. I used different kinds of foam dots to put lift the blooms at different heights.

Hope you are getting a chance to flex your own creative muscles today! Thanks for stopping by.